Oblivious
by THe Amazing Sponge
Summary: How can you be so close to someone, yet be invisible to them? How can they be so oblivious! AU The ORIGINAL SCII Highschool fic
1. Freaks and Cliques

Oblivious  
  
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Chapter One Cliques and Freaks  
  
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In Regelus High there are many different groups of people. Some discriminate against others while the others discriminate back. This, of course, does no good for society. But what goes around comes around, right?  
  
In the middle of the football field beside the school, a young, black haired girl with equally dark eyes is talking with two others- a brunette with hazel eyes and a white haired girl with dark green eyes. All three have pulled back some of their straight hair, leaving the rest to dust their shoulders. The black haired girl is wearing crimson lipstick, the brunette pink and the white-haired purple. They all wear the same style clothing- sleeveless, rose-coloured tees and tight, red leather mini skirts. Their feet are adorned with black heels. Each of them have black backpacks. They all look the age of 17.   
  
"Xianghua you numbskull!" the black haired girl yells at the brunette. "You were supposed to bring the essays!"  
  
"I-I'm sorry Taki, I forgot. . . " whimpers Xianghua.  
  
"Well 'sorry' isn't good enough!" Taki roars.  
  
"Taki, calm down." says the white haired girl. "Xianghua does this all the time, I was prepared!"   
  
Taki looked at the white haired girl wearily. "I should have known Ivy, I should have known," she mutters. "This idiot is so unreliable!"  
  
"Not as much as this kid." said a new voice. Another 17 year old had walked up to them, her blonde hair in the same style and her outfit matching theirs. Pink lipstick adorned her lips and she had piercing emerald eyes. She had brought along another girl with thye same eyes, at least 16 years old. This girl had blonde hair as well, but it was too short to be put up in the others' style. She wore the same type of outfit, but instead of rose there was pink, instead of black there was navy and instead of red there was brown. She only had sheer lip gloss on and look greatly flustered.   
  
"Sophitia. . ." started Taki. ". . . what is wrong with your sister?"  
  
The older blonde, Sophitia, groaned. "Cassandra is always wrong! She doesn't choose the right colours, she doesn't fix her hair properly and she talks to people like. . . " she looked around and pointed to a young girl sitting in a tree at the side of the football field opposite the school reading a book. ". . . her!"  
  
The young girl sitting in a tree had green hair, so dark it was on the verge of being black. She had tied it into low pigtails that stopped just below her shoulders. She had a piece of hair framing the right side of her face and her bangs varied in length. She wore an emerald shirt, tied in the middle with a black belt so its end flared out. Black sleeves came out where the green sleeves ended and they stopped just past her knuckles. She had on black bell bottoms which could dust the ground, with slits from the end up to the middle of her shin. A silver vine curled up the left pant leg with a single rose adorning it. She had on black zip-up sneakers. She looked the age of 15. Her dark chocolate eyes studied the small book, darting from side to side. The sound of someone calling her name made her look down from her branch.  
  
"Hoi! Talim!"  
  
Two guys walked up to her tree. One had blazing red hair up in spikes and dark brown eyes and the other had dark brown hair reaching just past his ears and eyes that were brown as well. The redhead wore black shoes underneath black cargoes. He had on a black vest that was open, revealing the red sweater he wore underneath. The other guy had brown shoes with black laces. He wore black baggy pants and a navy overcoat over a blue sweater. The sleeves of his sweater went past those of his open overcoat, reaching his wrists. Both were the age of 17.   
  
"Ohayou Yunsung, Kilik!" Talim said as she jumped down from her branch. She put her book in the green messenger back by the base of the tree and looked at the two. "And to what do I owe this visit?"  
  
"Hey, can't a guy say hi to a friend?" laughed the guy with red hair, giving Talim a hug. The brown haired guy gave her a hug as well and smiled. "So you've skipped another grade now haven't you?"  
  
"You got that right Kilik! Hitoshi-san thinks that grade 12 may prove to be more of a challenge than grades 10 or 11."  
  
"Of course it will!" said Yunsung. "It IS, after all, grade 12!"   
  
As they laughed, they were filled of happy thoughts of going through their last school year together.   
  
A group consisting of 4 guys were watching them from the other side of the field.   
  
The guys each wore black dress shoes, black pants, black muscle shirts and open navy blazers with white trim. They leaned on the wall of the school, hands in their pockets with the exception of one of the blond guys, who was smoking a cigarette. This one had long hair pulled back into a ponytail, some strands framing his face. His narrowed red eyes surveyed the laughing trio.   
  
"Siegfried?" asked one of the black haired guys. His long black hair was in a ponytail as well. He had eyes as dark as his hair.   
  
"Hn?" answered the blond with the cigarette.  
  
"What are you doing? Why are you staring off into space like that?"   
  
"Mitsurugi you dumbass, he's staring at the new girl!" scoffed the other blonde, whose wind blown hair only went just below his ears. This one had half-opened eyes that were somewhere between green and blue.  
  
"Shut up Raphael." muttered Siegfried.  
  
"Eh? You're telling him to shut up now? Why, because he is telling the truth?" the last guy chuckled. He had black hair that was slicked back with the exception of a thick bang in obscuring the view of his right eye. He had hazel eyes. His arms were crossed.  
  
"Telling the truth? So old Siegfried has eyes for the new kid?" snickered Mitsurugi.  
  
"Both of you had better shut up before I make you." Siegfried said darkly. Mitsurugi shut up fast, but the other continued to mock him.   
  
"HA! You do fancy her! You are just too cowardly to admit that you like a 15 year old girl more'n your current 17 year old girlfriend! I guess Ivy would like to hear this news!" this guy roared with laughter- that is, before Siegfried punched him to the ground.   
  
"That was only a warning Maxi," Siegfried began, "because if you so much as hint on telling Ivy anything I tell you, you are going to be in a world of pain!" Siegfried glared at the fallen body before throwing his cigarette but on him and spitting afterward. "You have never been farther from the truth."  
  
The school bell rang and the students stepped into the huge building, some ready for the new school year, others not. Maxi trudged in holding his hand to his nose in an effort to stop the bleeding behind the proudly marching Siegfried, Raphael ad Mitsurugi. A few people behind them Taki, Ivy, Xianghua and Sophitia walked toward their respective lockers, heels clicking against the linoleum. A sullen Cassandra was behind them, head bowed in shame. A cluster of students behind her walked the happy trio of Kilik, Talim and Yunsung, they too toward their respective lockers.   
  
And so started the next school year, as the halls slowly emptied and the classes slowly filled. So started another year of discrimination, violence, threats and laughter. Another year filled with cliques and another year filld with 'freaks.' Many hardships would arise, many friendships broken or reborn. But however this year would turn out, all were determined to turn the tables in their favour.  
  
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A/N:If you have not yet noticed, this is a definite AU fic. The ages are different, the setting is different, blah blah blah and so on. I hope this turns out good. I had some major inspiration for writing this, but depending on its outcome, it may be abandoned. Reviews will up my determination to keep this going on so whatever you think of this story, tell me in a review!  
  
Ciao 4 now,  
  
ja ne,  
  
THe Amazing Sponge 


	2. Betrayals

A/N:I am so glad on the outcome of the first chapter!!!!!!! Thankies y'all!!!!!!! And sorry Skitzo, I want the pairings to weave in with the story without a blunt "Taki and Voldo get together (not true)" kind of thing in my inserts. Well, as you can see, I like writing this though I do have my doubts! The last chappie was just a describing thing so yea... All you Link lovers wanna know if Link is gonna be in this right? Well, you either read all of this or go to last A/N @ the bottom of the page. Welpz, ON WITH THE STUFF!  
  
DEDICATED TO EVIL-GODESS  
  
"talking"  
  
":thinking:"  
  
"`device speaking`"  
  
Disclaimer: Oh how great it is to own the series of   
  
Soul Calibur; 'tis a gift from above  
  
How awesome it is all the money I've earned  
  
((All of the above I strongly yearn))  
  
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Chapter Two Betrayals  
  
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". . . and so it would make the outcome of the plot unaffected, regardless of a snag caused by paragraph 2a," ended Taki. She then walked back to her seat.   
  
"Very nice Taki, good job!" The homeroom teacher smiled.   
  
"Thank you Miss Carinore!" said Taki. On her left side sat an emotionless Sophitia and Xianghua who was trying to keep her face straight.   
  
On Taki's right sat a groaning Cassandra.  
  
Behind them in the second row sat Talim, with Yunsung and Mina to her right, and Kilik to her left. Mina wore a green sleeveless tee, a tight black leather mini skirt and her brown hair was pulled up halfway, leaving the rest to dust her shoulders. She also wore black strappy heels.   
  
At the back of the class sat Siegfried, Raphael and Mitsurugi on his right side, a smirkig Ivy and a very forlorn looking Maxi on his right.  
  
A knock on the door interuppted any further thoughts about Taki, the assignment or anything else.   
  
"Oh!" said Miss Carinore, breaking the silence. She opened the door and in walked a boy. He had on a pair of worn out jeans and a pale green sweater with a hood. His open sweater revealed a white muscle shirt underneath, showing off a well-built body. His hood was up covering most of his shiny blond hair and his piercing blue eyes slowly scanned the room.   
  
There where two open seats- one between Taki and Cassandra and one beside Kilik.  
  
Taki stared at the guy and smiled seductively, making sure the he noticed her.  
  
Cassandra smiled as well, but only to greet the stranger.  
  
Kilik was asleep.   
  
The boy smiled.  
  
He took his seat.  
  
The rest of the class seemed to gasp, well, with the exception of the second row.  
  
Talim gave a small smile and prodded the sleeping Kilik unseen. He opened his eyes and looked around, finally seeing the new student. "Hn?" Another poke. "Oh, yea, hi! I'm Kilik!" He grinned, now fully awake, extending his hand to the stranger.  
  
The stranger shook his hand. "Link."  
  
Then the two smiled, leaned back in their chairs and began to relax.  
  
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"So. . . we now have another sleeper eh?" Yunsung grinned. "Another lazy load to our already lazy burden."  
  
Kilik moved to whack Yunsung, but Link beat him to it.   
  
"I like this guy!" Kilik grinned.   
  
Talim laughed, "That is a shock- you usually despise anyone who wakes you up!"  
  
The group laughed as another came closer. "Hi! Yunsung, Kilik, Link, Talim."   
  
The quartet turned to find Ivy, Cassandra, Sophitia, Xianghua and their ringleader, Taki. They moved closer to the boys, leaving Talim on the edge of the crowd.   
  
"Hi. . . " she muttered.  
  
"So Yunsung, is the new guy cool?" Taki asked.  
  
"Ask Kilik," Yunsung sighed, "he is the expert!"  
  
Laughter rang out once again, though not much of it was genuine.  
  
"Oh Yun, that was SO funny!" said Taki, through her 'laughter.' "Would you like to eat lunch with m- us later on? Kilik, you too?"   
  
"Sure!" Yunsung replied.  
  
"Ta-ta, see you then!" Taki winked and walked off, followed by the rest of her clan.  
  
"You hear that? I get to eat lunch with Taki!" Yunsung proclaimed. "Beat that Kilik!"  
  
"Ok, I am eating lunch with her too so what's your problem?"  
  
"Well, uh. . . I was asked first!"   
  
Kilik and Link whacked Yunsung again at the same time before the bell rang, signaling them to go to their next class. Talim strayed a little, gazing down at her shoes. Kilik and Yunsung walked ahead, oblivious to her sudden change of mood. Only Link noticed, and he too, strayed.   
  
"Hey Talim, what's wrong?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Nothing is wrong, but thanks for asking." Talim feigned a smile. Link looked a little worried, but he soon was called by Kilik to catch. Glancing back at Talim, he rushed forward.  
  
  
  
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Lunchtime.  
  
Talim walked again behind Yunsung, Kilik and Link. She solemnly listened to Yunsung's obnoxious remarks. Kilik's pointing out the obvious. Yunsung's stupid retaliation. Yes, they were strange, but these were her friends.   
  
"Hey Tali!"   
  
Talim swirled around to find Mina running to catch up, binder in arm.  
  
"Hey Tal, you look sad. . . What's up?"  
  
Talim hesitated a bit. "Oh. . . nothing."  
  
"You heard, right? Yun and Kilik were invited by Taki to eat lunch," Mina grinned, "and I get to be at the same table and see all the action first-hand! Isn't that awesome?"  
  
Talim nodded and looked back at her shoes- geez, a stranger would have have thought they would get boring after a few hours. But to Talim right now, they were not there. Just a dark blur against the tile floor. Mina looked at her, slightly worried. But soon they reached the fork in the hall to outside and to the commons.  
  
"Well, bye Tali, I'll tell you ALL about it later, ok?" Without waiting for a response, Mina skipped away, into the sea of people in the cafeteria. Talim kept her eyes down and walked towards the door to the fields. Just as she was at the door, she saw it open and looked up, startled. Standing there was Siegfried.   
  
"After you, madam."   
  
Talim eyed him, and then continued to walk.  
  
He followed, and the door swung shut, giving a little thud as its doorstop leg scraped the ground.  
  
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A/N:UPDATED!!!!! I LOOOOOOOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!! I never thought that this would make such an impact, and it took me so long that I thought you guys would lose hope. . . ToT StAy!!!!!  
  
Evil-Godess, I worship thee for on your fav. authours list is meeeeeeeeeeee!!!! YAY!!!!!  
  
And yes, Link is not in this story (for all of you too lazy to read the chappie).  
  
THAAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Ciao, ja ne  
  
THe Amazing Sponge 


	3. Art

A/N:That was so weird... And I meant this was one of the first SCII highschool fics, because I have only seen like, 1 or 2 others.... ^^; Enough with my rambling, on with the STUFF!!!  
  
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Chapter 3 Art  
  
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"I never thought of it that way..."  
  
Talim and Siegfried had been talking under her tree.   
  
Talim had thought Siegfried was going to talk to her into doing his homework or errands or something, but she was far from the mark.  
  
They had spoken about art.  
  
He said he wanted to know about different techuniques and styles, and he was particularly interested in her own. He had asked about the best media to use on bricks, for he was going to make a mural. Talim, being the nice person that she was, gave Siegfried advice as to what she would do, had it been her. In return, he had opened her eyes to the many plains of art.  
  
"Not many people do, Talim," Siegfried replied, "but as I just explained, art is basically anything with a story."  
  
Talim was about to reply when the school bell rang. "Oh... it was fun talking with you Siegfried, but I gotta go now..." Talim gave him a wave before heading off into class.  
  
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =   
  
"~  
  
Minaley: u will NOT believe wat happened next!!!!!!11  
  
Linkyfoo: -.-zZzZ  
  
DaYunMan: i no it was so funnie XD  
  
Rodboy: you 2 lie like ... monkeys!  
  
Linkyfoo: -.-zZzZ  
  
DaYunMan: thx! XP  
  
~"  
  
Talim sighed. Her friends were telling her all about the lunch hour, but she was not really listening. All she could think about was her own lunch hour. Her conversation with Siegfried seemed slightly out of the ordinary. Like that it was not supposed to happen. Like it never happened. But of course, this was Siegfried- the head popular bad-ass jock of the school. Talking to her, an out of the ordinary person. So naturally she would think that, right? It would feel normal after a bit of getting used to, right? It was just art, after all...  
  
But why did he ask so many questions? "What would you use?" "What is like your trademark sort of drawing?" "Do you buy those often? From where?" It felt like the third degree. Why did she not just leave?  
  
Talim knew the answer to that- kind of. It was hard to explain. Like, the feeling you get when you are stuck in the house on a beautiful day but are free to leave at any moment. But you do not leave, because there is a helpless infant stuck inside as well. And you feel the need to care for it.  
  
But Siegfried- a helpless infant? Hah! That was preposterous! Rather hard to picture, as well. Talim scolded herself for using such a metaphor. Such a one that described her feelings so... well? It was how she felt, but why? To a total stranger, no less!   
  
Why did that question always pop up? It was so hard to answer.  
  
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Wh-  
  
The messenger sent off a flurry of beeps and dings. Even more windows flooded the computer screen. All with the same message.  
  
"~  
  
Rodboy: TEHY LIE TAL, THEY LIEEE!  
  
Linkyfoo: -.-zZzZ  
  
~"  
  
Talim laughed softly and typed a reply.  
  
"~  
  
taL: Calm down man, I believe yuu, aiight?  
  
Rodboy: phew. good.  
  
Linkyfoo: -.-zZzZ  
  
Minaley: u can NOT believe him! it was tru!  
  
DaYunMan: ya i got a date wit taki herself!!!!!!!1111  
  
~"  
  
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =   
  
"Taki asked HIM out!"  
  
"Crazy! She would have never, you know?"  
  
"Lucky bastard, that Yun..."  
  
Talim walked down the halls, ignoring the gossiping commentors. Mina and Cassandra chatted on either side of her.   
  
"I am so excited! We got to see it firsthand! Now EVERYBODY will be asking us what happened, Cassie! We will be so popular!" exclaimed Mina.  
  
"It was actually kinda boring..." replied Cassandra.  
  
"It was AWESOME you butthole!" declared Mina.  
  
Cassandra and Talim laughed. Not that Mina's statemnt was funny, but her whole outlook. She was one of those people who try not to care about the in-crowd, but subconsiously, she always followed them. They knew her well, and could manipulate her without her even noticing. Exactly why she was friends with Talim and Cassandra, noone knew. They just kind of went together, like 3 puzzle pieces.At times, this was hard to believe. Mina would ditch Talim and Cassandra frequently for Taki, and then make up lame (but believeable) excuses about it.  
  
"Shut up, Mina, it is just a date!" scoffed Cassandra.  
  
"Yes, a date. But it is THE date. THE date wth THE-"  
  
Talim interrupted Mina. "-Queen of the Bees!" she waved her hand as dramatically as she spoke, putting her other hand to her chest. Talim put emphasis on many words, drawing some out. "Oh yeeees, it is THEEE date of the QUEEN! We simply MUSSST fantasize about it, for IT is THEEE top priority to ALL the followers!"   
  
Cassandra and Mina laughed and soon Cassandra left to her class, whie Talim and Mina walked on to their's.   
  
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =   
  
Art was her next class.  
  
Who else had it then?   
  
Mina, Taki, Siegfried and others....  
  
Today was a group of 4 project. Think of one thing to add to the scene, add it, and then wait until your next turn. Talim took out her sketchpad and pencil and was about to make a mark when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.   
  
"Want to make a group?" It was Siegfried.  
  
Talim looked over at Mina, who nodded vigorously, before replying. "Okay, but Mina has to be in it."   
  
"Deal."   
  
The trio barely reached a table when Mr. Fuwanru stopped everyone. "I am going to go down the list to make sure everyone has a group." He pushed his glasses up and ran his finger down a sheet of paper. "Talim, who are in your group?"  
  
"Siegfried and Mina-" Talim was suddenly interuppted by a loud clicking heel and the door opening.  
  
"-me!" Taki placed a hand on her chest and through her other one back, flashing a super-star smile.   
  
"Okay, group one, Talim, Mina, Siegfried and Taki, you must make a scene that describes the feeling at this school." instructed Mr. Fuwanru.  
  
Taki looked rather disgusted at hearing the names, but she immediatly strutted over to their table and took a seat beside Siegfried.   
  
"Sooo, Zieg, what do you plan to do?" she drawled, leaning on his shoulder.   
  
He moved away, bringing the paper closer to Talim. "What should we start with, the people or the backdrop?"  
  
"The characters, of course!" Mina leaned across the table toward Siegfried and Talim. "That way we would not need to erase as much."  
  
"Yes, the characters are more important to the feeling, though the backdrop can still be vital..." Talim hesitantly stated. She took her pencil and began drawing a woman, very scantily clad. Siegfried watched over her shoulder.  
  
"Daring, Talim, very daring."  
  
"How so?" she asked, still drawing.  
  
"You are choosing the darker side of the school..."  
  
"It is the more realistic side."  
  
"Ha!" scoffed Taki. "It is only realistic from a loner's point of view!"  
  
"No..." Mina whispered, shrinking back.  
  
"Loner's?" inquired Siegfried.  
  
"Loners," Mina stated, as-a-matter-of-factly, "are always jealous, so they turn the more beautiful, respectable women into sluts, unlike the loners themselves."  
  
"Many of the in-crowd get their social status by sexual manipulation, and personally, I do not distort- I draw them as I sees them," Talim said, exasperatngly, "so, Taki, stop moving so I can draw this better!"  
  
Mina clapped a hand to her mouth, Siegfried laughed and Taki stood up in a huff.   
  
"You stupid little b***h!" Taki said, threateningly. "You dare to call ME a WHORE?"  
  
"Yep. I dare, oh almighty, to state the obvious truth. Now hold still!" Talim rolled her eyes, still not taking her eyes off of her drawing.  
  
"You are going to regret this, little miss-prissy-f***er!" roared Taki.  
  
The overworked teacher did his best to let the cusses go.  
  
"Yes, I am, because it is hoding back my work." Talim replied, finally looking back at the enraged Taki.  
  
Taki was about to hit Talim across the face when everything happened in unison.  
  
Talim thrust her pencil in defence.  
  
Siegfried caught Taki's hand.  
  
Mr. Fuwanru ran over, but tripped on a stray desk's leg.  
  
Mina screamed.  
  
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A/N:Another chappie done, and hopefully you can see that I am working to make the chaps longer. Reviewers, I heart you. I heart you all immensely. Even the one who accused me ofstealing their story, because that gave e a hearty laugh. See above author's note as to why. Lady Manson, I heart you too. Screw the flamers. Unless your story has no way of going anywhere and/or you type with l337, they are just jealous. Screw them. XD ChildOfMadness, thank you for being honest and sorry if I disapponted you. Bee, sorry for any confusion, but "ja ne" is japanese for "see ya"... ^^; SoullessCalibur, if you read this, you would understand why he is not in the story. Keep reading to see more of not-Link. Person, get an sn so I can put yer name on here! Lol. Carai alMere, I love yer support. Sindel, you are reading my other fic as well? XD Baccus Cremeaus, I will try to make more chappies like it, thank you! SOMEBODY, the answer is pigs fly. -=cough sarcasm cough=-  
  
Sorry about the late update, sorry if I did not put you here, but I greatly appreciate every one of you and I got a boot on my stats as well. Thank yuu!!!  
  
Ja ne!  
  
THe Amazing Sponge  
  
(P.S. You all know reviews are fuel right? Well, I did not get ANY for my latest chappie in AKMS, and I love writing that. I also update in a routine, and if one is not updated, none are. Just a hint, because reviews INSPIRE me and keep me WRITING...-.-;) 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four - Cause and Effect**

The next day, the student body was gossiping like no tomorrow. Rumors spread through the school like wildfire, as well as first-hand accounts of the event. Talim walked to her locker unaccompanied, surrounded by comments of her peers tossed all around her.

"That's the girl!"

"She pissed off Taki!"

"She got Taki suspended!"

"I heard that she stabbed Taki with a paintbrush afterward!"

"I heard that she said Taki was cheating on her new boyfriend!"

"I heard the she's Taki's boyfriend's ex!"

"I heard that she and _Siegfried_ are an _item_!"

The many voices were beginning to annoy her. They had not used her name a single time- But Taki's name came up after every other sentence. As she got to her locker, and twirled around the little dial on the lock, her head was swamped with anger. Why couldn't they just keep their noses out of it? Why were they such busy-bodies? Why couldn't they leave her alone?

Ever since she was little, Talim hadn't liked to be the centre of attention. A naturally shy girl, some people even thought she was mute! She only opened up to her friends, and when she did, they would find that she wasn't very shy at all. Her personality resembled that of a puppy- If she felt cornered or threatened, she would defend herself, but Talim wasn't one to start these kinds of things anyway. Why had she started something with Taki, then? Talim found nothing wrong with Taki the first day back...

What had changed between them?

"TAL! TAL!"

Talim whirled around to find Kilik waving his arm and running toward her, successfully evading the hoard of students in her way. Link followed, hands in his pockets, looking as laid-back as ever.

"Yes?" she said, blinking.

"Is it- Is it true? Did you really- DidyoureallytickoffTaki?"

Talim frowned at him, deeply disappointed; She had hoped, at least _Kilik_ would not be a gossip-monger, but... Here he was.

"Well? Is it?"

Scowling, she slammed her locker shut and walked away, not trusting her voice, leaving a stunned Kilik alone in the hall.

**o0o**

Ivy leaned against the wall of an unoccupied bathroom wall, one foot brought up against the thin block of blue. She held a cell phone to her ear, hidden beneath stray locks of silver, and was talking into it in a hushed voice. The voice on the other line, however, was as furious as a dog deprived of its meal.

_"That STUPID little WHORE!"_ It cried, followed by a loud crash, _"How_ dare _she?"_

"Calm down, Taki," chuckled Ivy, "she'll soon be taken care of, just as the essays were."

_"She had BETTER be! When I come back, see to it that she's NOT THERE. If I see her face one more time, I'm going to... ARRGH!" _

Ivy nodded, though her companion could not see, and laughed once more. "Don't worry, next time you see her, it'll be at another district." With that, she clicked off the phone and pocketed it. Then she walked out of the upstairs washroom and to her class, a smirk crawling upon her full, red lips. She had the whole plan set. All she needed was a little information from her boyfriend- Of course she knew he had spoken to Talim, _she_ would certainly not have missed such a tidbit of rumour- and the cat was in the bag. Rather, the girl was in the public school.

**o0o**

Sitting in homeroom, Talim could feel the eyes of her comrades boring into her. It was as though everyone was trying stare at her hard enough to read her mind, and she found herself trying to clear her thoughts. It was like something she'd never experienced before- was this what it was like to be... Popular?

No, it couldn't be, not this. _This_ was anxiety. _This_ was paranoia. _This_ was fear.

"Talim!"

"Um, here," she replied to Mrs. Carinore, a little startled. Right then and there, she could see in her mind that everyone was laughing at her. With a self-conscious glance around her, she found that nobody was looking at her- In fact, all their heads were bowed down in writing.

Writing? Oh, they had an assignment, and she was not aware of it at all!

_Calm down, Talim. You're crazy. Don't let it get to you... _

But she kept wondering if this was what being popular meant- and if it was worth feeling like your every move was being watched. And then the question arose- Had she done something right, or something... Wrong?

"I _know_ you're here, Talim." Carinore rolled her eyes. "You're to go to the main office ASAP."

Blinking nervously, she rose and left the classroom, taking a route to where she was wanted. Every step on the tile echoed, the sound ricocheting off the walls and at her. Ever face was pure skin, save for the mocking grins everyone wore. Fingers were being pointed, dangerously close- No, _invading_ her personal space.

And then nothing was there.

She shook her head and reached the door.

Suddenly, every sound she normally heard was muted, she felt as though she were moving through water, and the beating of her heart echoed within her entire body, thumping through her ears. Talim gradually rose her hand, reaching for the knob. Her arm froze in midair. What if Taki had said something about her- What if Taki had turned the tables on her? Or maybe someone in the classroom reported her for starting the argument. But everyone was immersed in their own conversations- The only people who could have known that Talim had started it were Taki, Siegfried, and Mina- Could Mina have turned on her? Or maybe Siegfried and Taki had planned it all along. Maybe, maybe... Maybe she should just ditch. Or was that too drastic?

At last, Talim made her decision, and turned the knob. She closed her eyes, bracing for an unknown attack, but of course nothing came. Take a seat, she was told, and she did. Talim settled in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs lining a wall of the office, staring at her feet again. She wasn't able to study her shoes for long, however, for the secretary informed her that The principal would see her now.

Walking in, Talim could feel the infuriated tension as though it had smacked her in the face, and she began to feel more afraid of Hitoshi than ever before- She had never seen their principal so red-faced, so heavily breathing, had never seen those steel gray eyes so full of disbelief.

"Sit."

She did. And was bombarded by a flurry of pictures, photographs Hitoshi had thrown at her.

"_Look_! Do you _realize_ the amount of _damage_ you've caused? The _money_ it will take to fix this? The _years_ of school pride, _lost_? I cannot be_lieve_ we let someone like _you_ into this school! Do you know what you've made Regelus, Talim?" She slammed her hands on the desk, eyes narrowed. "A _gutter_ school! Because only gutter school have such _monstrosities_ defiling their walls!"

Talim picked a picture up and gasped, chocolate orbs growing wide. On many, many Polaroids was a different angle depiction of the school's neighbourhood-facing wall, and the bricks were covered in mural-size graffiti art, the words 'Fcuk You' written over and over again. She looked at yet another photo and found that, from the neighbourhood's point of view, the multiple phrases blended in together to form the letters 'T', 'A', and 'L'.

"_No_."

"Don't try to talk your way out of this one, girl, because I have _witnesses_! Yes, dear, dear Xianghua, dimwitted as she can be, has wonderful eyesight and very good credentials, and _saw you creating this abomination_!"

"What?" It got harder to breathe. "No! I didn't do this! Xinaghua, she- She and- and Taki! And Ivy! They... They...!"

"Nonsense!" Hitoshi glared down at her, looking very intimidating over the high desk. "They were with her, and _they_ have some very good credentials as well! Respectable credentials! School board credentials! And _you_, you were just too good for this school, weren't you? You just _had_ to humiliate us to make your point! Well, _you've made it_! To _expulsion_!"

"Ex- Ex_pelled_! No, no! You can't! You-"

The door burst open, and both Talim and Mrs Hitoshi stared at it in disbelief.

"Just what do you think you're doing, student?"

* * *

**A/N:** There are two more chapters after this, both uploaded at my site. (See profile for details).

Thank you soooooo much, reviewers, you guys are the BEST. THEEEEEEE BEST. I'm sorry it took so long. THANK YOU. 3 3 3 3 3


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